joke

Study(36)

UK /d͡ʒəʊk/ US /d͡ʒoʊk/

noun 5verb 3

Collocations

(noun.)

ADJ

funny, good

old

My grandfather tells the same old joke at every family dinner.

cruel, sick | huge | dirty

VERB + JOKE

crack, make, tell

My dad always cracks jokes at dinner, even though they're usually terrible.

play

My older brother loves to play jokes on me before my birthday.

have, share

My friends and I shared a joke during lunch that made everyone laugh.

hear

get, laugh at

She didn't get the joke, so her friend had to explain the funny reference.

take

My brother gets angry whenever we take a joke about his cooking skills.

treat sth as

She treated the whole meeting as a joke and didn't take any of it seriously.

JOKE + VERB

fall flat

His attempt at humor fell flat when nobody in the room laughed at his joke.

be on sb

When I laughed at my friend's new haircut, the joke was on me when I saw the mirror.

PREP

as a ~

He didn't mean to upset anyone—he was just speaking as a joke.

~ about

My friends were laughing and telling jokes about their terrible cooking experiences last night.

PHRASES

make a joke of sth

She made a joke of the terrible weather to cheer up the children during the field trip.

(verb.)

ADV

half

He was half joking when he said he wanted to quit his job and travel around the world.

PREP

about

The friends laughed and joked about their embarrassing moments from high school.

with

He likes to joke with his coworkers during lunch breaks.

PHRASES

be only joking

When I said you looked tired, I was only joking about your appearance.

joking apart/aside

laugh and joke

My friends and I laughed and joked throughout the entire movie.

you must be joking

She said she'd finished the entire project in just one hour, and I replied, you must be joking.

Definitions

noun

An amusing story.

Or witty joke our airy senses moves / To pleasant laughter.

Something said or done for amusement, not in seriousness.

It was a joke!

The root cause or main issue, especially an unexpected one

A laughably worthless thing or person; a sham.

Your effort at cleaning your room is a joke.

The president was a joke.

Something that is far easier or far less challenging than expected.

The final exam was a joke.

verb

To do or say something for amusement rather than seriously.

I didn’t mean what I said — I was only joking.

To dupe in a friendly manner for amusement; to mess with, play with.

Relax, man, I'm just joking with you.

To make merry with; to make jokes upon; to rally.

to joke a comrade

He made more than one visit to Oxbridge, where the young fellows were amused by entertaining the old gentleman, and gave parties and breakfasts and fêtes, partly to joke him and partly to do him honour.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

noun — a ludicrous or grotesque act done for fun and amusement

noun — activity characterized by good humor

jest
jocularity

noun — a humorous anecdote or remark intended to provoke laughter

verb — act in a funny or teasing way

jest

verb — tell a joke

jest

Antonyms

Idioms & Phrases

inside joke

A joke that is understood or meant to be understood only by certain people who are aware of the details (an ingroup).

After the incident with the potato peeler, references to potatoes became an inside joke among the witnesses.

take a joke

To accept a joke at one's expense.

The school authorities, unable to take a joke, demanded the immediate removal of the satirical poster.

bad joke

A situation that is badly planned, or illogical.

Mayor Smith's new traffic rules were a bad joke.

the joke is on someone

Someone is the butt of a joke or is experiencing a negative outcome, especially if that person was trying to make someone else the butt of the joke or subject them to the negative outcome.

As only a small per cent of the dealers use the word "Leghorn," and the ones who do try to use it can't tell a Leghorn from a mixed breed or from many other breeds, the most of the

half joke

A statement which contains elements of both jest and seriousness.

"Well, let's wait. Perhaps the shooting will die out." "Maybe the soldiers and settlers will die out with it," I say, another half-joke.

Example Bank

Or witty joke our airy senses moves / To pleasant laughter.

Wiktionary

It was a joke!

Wiktionary

I didn’t mean what I said — I was only joking.

Wiktionary

Relax, man, I'm just joking with you.

Wiktionary

to joke a comrade

Wiktionary

Your joke bears repeating.

Tatoeba · #17382

Usage Notes

i Register

In some senses, joke is marked as figuratively, dated. Watch for register when choosing this word.

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